It also will boil down Wagner's massive "Ring" cycle of operas to a two-hour production that will be inherently comedic but still respect the music, said artistic director Viswa Subbaraman. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article

The Racine Art Museum has unearthed some spectacular ceramic works from its collection and displayed them with a curatorial gravity that is both contemplative and sophisticated. It belies the somewhat corny title, "Magic Mud: Masterworks in Clay from RAM's Collection." There will be many ceramic exhibits in the area to coincide with the upcoming NCECA conference in Milwaukee. Enjoy as many as you can, but don't skip this one.

I walked into the galleries to find I was the only one there. I was glad for this silence. The lighting is moody, the walls painted in deep, earthy tones. This is a departure from the blazing all-over focus of the white cubes of other galleries. Indeed, from the beginning, the goal seems different from that of other exhibits. RAM's mission focuses on what is designated as a "craft" media, but this show demonstrates the validity of ceramics as a medium for current trends as well. The inclusion of ceramics in the contemporary canon of art is a divisive issue, and one that RAM does not shy from. One can see the bone-thin bowls of Otto and Gertrud Natzler next to allegorical sculpture by Christina Cordova. Seeing this range of the ceramic material in the functional but almost holy beauty and color of the Natzler's vessels and the conceptual and narrative possibilities in the figurative work of Cordova, one has the chance to examine and consider the breadth of potential contained in this primal medium. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article

I am not immune to the charms of Wes Anderson, but I cannot enjoy them without trying to figure out just what is going on. The effect is like going to an art museum and trying to understand a painting.

With Anderson, I want to decipher just how he made it. Matte painting? Miniature? Rear-screen projection? Green screen? Bill Murray? Anderson is as much an architect as an auteur, telling stories that do not exist outside the foreign but familiar worlds he builds for them. And this trademark combination of artistry and imagination runs through "The Grand Budapest Hotel" like the endearingly eager hotel lobby boy Zero, played by Tony Revolori. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article(1)

Divergents just wanna have fun. Mostly, if they also happen to be girls.

But when the working day is done, the popularity of Veronica Roth's young-adult novels "Divergent," "Insurgent," and "Allegiant" has spread like "Catching Fire," burning up The New York Times' bestseller list and lit-slapping Katniss Everdeen to the Kindle curb. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article

Starbucks plans to expand its sales of alcohol — wine and beer — as well as small plates to thousands of urban areas nationwide. Milwaukee could be a potential location based on where the Starbucks evening program has been successful so far.

Starbucks started selling alcohol at a Seattle store in October 2010. It has been testing the "evening program" at some 40 locations, including Chicago. The evening program starts at 4 p.m. and features wines, small plates and some beer. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

With his 2011 movie "The Muppets," Jason Segel reinvigorated the Muppets movie franchise with the sheer force of his Muppet love.

The new sequel — or if you're counting back from 1979's original "The Muppet Movie," the seventh in a series — doesn't quiet capture the surprise magic of the last effort, but it's still a lot of fun. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article

In the spirit of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000," comedian Ryan Lowe and friends are launching Stand-Up Cinema, a screening with comic commentary at 10 p.m. Thursday at the Times Cinema, 5906 W. Vliet St. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article

FOCUS Film Society

"It's Only Money": Jerry Lewis stars in Frank Tashlin's 1962 comedy as a schlub who finds out he's the long-lost heir to a rich industrialist — assuming the other heirs don't kill him first. 7 p.m. Saturday at Church in the City, 2648 N. Hackett Ave. $3. | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article

DUE OUT TUESDAY

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (Paramount) Dizzy movie by Martin Scorsese, based on a true story, follows the rise and fall of a 1990s investment broker, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, whose empire was built on almost-epic levels of amoral behavior. With Jonah Hill. (R; pervasive sex, nudity, drug use and language) ★★★ | March 20, 2014»Read Full Article

Reports overnight that debris found in the Indian Ocean off Austrailia may be from the Malaysian airliner missing since March 8 could put to rest the mystery of the fate of the plane and the passengers.

But fascination with its disappearance is part of a larger curiosity about the riddles of life, and creating theories to solve them. "Conspiracy theorists haven't had this much material since the JFK assasination," according to an article on what the obsession with the missing plane says about us in The Week.| March 20, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

Twice each year, the sun shines directly on the equator, marking the vernal and autumnal equinox. So according to astronomy and the Weather Channel, that means that as of 11:57 a.m. today, it's spring in Milwaukee.